SpectreJordan
Well-Known Member
Mermaid has to be the most insane queue for a mediocre ride ever. It's better than most E-tickets' queues.
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News 'Encanto' and 'Indiana Jones'-themed experiences at Animal Kingdom
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
I think the ride is fine but the queue sets unreasonable expectations. If placed in the same category as Pan or Pooh, it compares favorably. But, compared to Mansion? No contest.
Imagine if HM had a queue through the cellar as long Mermaid’s queue.
SpectreJordan
Well-Known Member
On one hand, I appreciate that they put the effort into the queue because it's nice to look at when I'm walking around. But on the other, it was a bizarre usage of money.
& yeah, I wish HM had a queue that good. It'd elevate that ride even further.
The queue is one of Mermaid's problems with the tiny interactive TVs that aren't at a level for children to see and cause people to hold up the line.
Plus, last time I was in it (pre-pandemic), the ceiling of the queue was leaking water in a lot of places.
It's at least a higher quality than the ride itself, which is awful.
But what do I know? I'm just a pixie duster shill.
Plus, last time I was in it (pre-pandemic), the ceiling of the queue was leaking water in a lot of places.
It's at least a higher quality than the ride itself, which is awful.
But what do I know? I'm just a pixie duster shill.
Movielover
Well-Known Member
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
If they ever eliminate Nemo at the Seas and bring back the SeaCabs, they should add this feature to really sell the underwater illusion!
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
I'd settle for each park having at least half the DL park number of attractions.
That's still more than we're likely ever to see, though. :/
Rhinocerous
Premium Member
I have it on good authority that it’s better down where it’s wetter.
SilentWindODoom
Well-Known Member
Because Orlando has more than enough room to spread out new additions while Anaheim has two parks. To keep up a pace of new additions, you pack it into already full parks.
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
Go look up the attraction count for just the single DL park and then compare it to all four WDW parks, each with their separate admission, combined.
Keep in mind that annual attendance is higher at MK (not including the other three) than DL, while doing that, too.
I seriously doubt Walt was thinking DVC when he made his comments about the "blessing of size".
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RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Trixie's Dino Spinner next to the Toy Story Restaurant
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Wandering Oaken's Sliding Sleighs has entered the chat...
Doctor Doom's FearFall is on that list for me too. What a fantastic queue media loop as well animated just for the attraction.
MrPromey
Well-Known Member
And I wonder when the last time anyone actually stood in any of that was to take it in.*
Feels like the only thing preventing this from being a direct walk-on most of the time is the five minutes it takes to navigate all that to get to the boarding area.
We had the after 4 express pass and one day after a long day of waking and not feeling like going through all of that, I asked about it at the entrance. The guy explained they didn't have it for that one and instead, suggested we just take the handicapped entrance if we didn't care about seeing any of that.
We did and nobody said a word.
*I'm sure week after Chrsitmas, spring break and the other major dates have some sort of wait but for at least the last two years on every weekend we've been there, it's been a direct walk-on no matter what time of day.
Last year when one tower was down the area with the projection screen was a line enough to appreciate most of the loop.
Probably good for the weather downtimes when you are already in line waiting for a storm to pass.
The thing is, it has a decent capacity and a tall height requirement. Second tallest in the park besides Hulk.
When it operated as it was intended to, Tower of Terror Never got its courtyard queue fully appreciated.
Now, most of it does not work.
I often think about Dumbo on a subject like this. It is harder to get kids out of the playground and onto the ride when there is no wait, and when there is, when it is your turn as convincing a kid that the dumbo ride is more fun than the up to hour(s) in a well themed playground is a hard sell.
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DisneyDefenders
Active Member
To me the Dinoland debate makes clear a glaring problem Disney has...despite 3 attempts, they have been unable to create a story about dinosaurs that the general audience falls in love with.
The 2000 movie DINOSAUR which the ride at Animal Kingdom is loosely based on, was in my opinion one of the most beautiful motion pictures that Disney produced at the turn of the millennium, but it was not a major box office success.
THE GOOD DINOSAUR was a cute movie, but also got hit by an asteroid at the box office.
The Animal Kingdom ride DINOSAUR in my opinion, has been the best dino story that Disney has produced, even though it is just a few minutes in length.
Other studios have proved that dino stories can be popular if produced well. Jurassic Park/World is proof of that. So is Land Before Time. And while not dino centered, so is Ice Age. Disney acquiring the rights to Ice Age, could have opened up an interesting possibility to retheme Dinosaur to thay intelectual property, but I think the hype over Ice Age is pretty much over.
It seems like a glaring opportunity, as we approach a decade since Disney's last attempt to produce a story about dinosaurs that the audience will fall in love with. Personally, I think the best approach would be to produce a major motion picture that continues its story as a Disney+ series, which then can lead to a retheme of the ride at Animal Kingdom.
Sorry to keep this post going, but I have one more point to make about this...
I kind of view the current layout of Animal Kingdom as similar to EPCOT, where the lands at the front of the park to your left and right reflect on our past, present and future and have a bit of fantasy to them. Then those lands lead you to the back of the park where the attractions celebrate the way we connect with culture. I love that and feel that the 2 proposals that have been shared, especially this most recent one, would dramatically change that balance for Animal Kingdom.
The park needs more to do, as most guests view it as a half day park at best. It needs an entirely new area in addition to the love and care that everyone acknowledges Dinoland needs. Whether that is a South American land, Australian land or an Arctic land, I believe it should be added, north of Pandora, so that you can keep the same balance that the park has now.
Whatever is done, I hope it will further enhance one of my favorite theme parks ever built, so that even more people can come to appreciate Animal Kingdom as much as I do.
The 2000 movie DINOSAUR which the ride at Animal Kingdom is loosely based on, was in my opinion one of the most beautiful motion pictures that Disney produced at the turn of the millennium, but it was not a major box office success.
THE GOOD DINOSAUR was a cute movie, but also got hit by an asteroid at the box office.
The Animal Kingdom ride DINOSAUR in my opinion, has been the best dino story that Disney has produced, even though it is just a few minutes in length.
Other studios have proved that dino stories can be popular if produced well. Jurassic Park/World is proof of that. So is Land Before Time. And while not dino centered, so is Ice Age. Disney acquiring the rights to Ice Age, could have opened up an interesting possibility to retheme Dinosaur to thay intelectual property, but I think the hype over Ice Age is pretty much over.
It seems like a glaring opportunity, as we approach a decade since Disney's last attempt to produce a story about dinosaurs that the audience will fall in love with. Personally, I think the best approach would be to produce a major motion picture that continues its story as a Disney+ series, which then can lead to a retheme of the ride at Animal Kingdom.
Sorry to keep this post going, but I have one more point to make about this...
I kind of view the current layout of Animal Kingdom as similar to EPCOT, where the lands at the front of the park to your left and right reflect on our past, present and future and have a bit of fantasy to them. Then those lands lead you to the back of the park where the attractions celebrate the way we connect with culture. I love that and feel that the 2 proposals that have been shared, especially this most recent one, would dramatically change that balance for Animal Kingdom.
The park needs more to do, as most guests view it as a half day park at best. It needs an entirely new area in addition to the love and care that everyone acknowledges Dinoland needs. Whether that is a South American land, Australian land or an Arctic land, I believe it should be added, north of Pandora, so that you can keep the same balance that the park has now.
Whatever is done, I hope it will further enhance one of my favorite theme parks ever built, so that even more people can come to appreciate Animal Kingdom as much as I do.
Just to clarify, while it was not a smash hit like those around it. I like how you said not a major box office success. Some people like to say it bombed.
It performed 137 million domestically at the box office in 2000.
To put it in perspective, even without inflation that performed far better than Princess and The Frog. The difference is reception to merch afterwards from all the hype it had. It was still in the top 9 grossing of a very successful film year.
Another clarification, the ride was first and the attraction name changed with very few tweaks like the courtyard outside to help promote it. But the ride was first under Countdown To Extinction and holds its own as a story because it was not based on the film. It just used some of the same character modeling.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Absolutely. They don’t need a show next to Nemo and they don’t need a thrill ride.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
To be fair, Universal only made like 2 or 3 good dinosaur films with the JP franchise